Rio 2

''Rio 2'' is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated musical comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. It is the sequel to the 2011 computer-animated film ''Rio'' and the second installment of the ''Rio'' franchise. The title refers to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, where the first film was set and ''Rio 2'' begins, though most of its plot occurs in the Amazon rainforest. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, Tracy Morgan, Jemaine Clement, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, and Jake T. Austin reprising their roles from the first film with new members including Bruno Mars, Andy Garcia, Rita Moreno, Rachel Crow, Kristin Chenoweth, Amandla Stenberg, Pierce Gagnon, and Miguel Ferrer (in his final theatrical film before his death in 2017).

''Rio 2'' was released internationally on March 20, 2014, and on April 11, 2014, in American theaters by 20th Century Fox. It grossed $498 million worldwide, against a production budget of $103 million, and received mixed reviews from critics, garnering praise for the animation, voice acting and songs, but criticism for the story and writing. The film is dedicated to the memory of screenwriter Don Rhymer, who died on November 28, 2012. This was Blue Sky Studios' first and only follow-up film outside the ''Ice Age'' franchise. This was also the final ''Rio'' film to be produced by Blue Sky Studios before its closure on April 10, 2021. A third film is in development.

Plot

Three years after the events of the first film, Blu and Jewel are raising their three children — Carla, Bia, and Tiago — in the city but Jewel is disappointed to see her children becoming too domesticated like their father. Meanwhile, Linda and Tulio are on an expedition in the Amazon and, after a fall down a waterfall, discover a Spix's macaw that loses one of its feathers. When words about the encounter were broadcast through television, Jewel believes that they should go to the Amazon to help find the blue macaws. While the kids are ecstatic, Blu is uncertain, but he is pressured into going along. Rafael, Nico and Pedro also decide to come along to scout talent for Carnival. Luiz tries to follow, but is unknowingly left behind by the birds. Blu brings a fanny pack full of supplies, including a GPS, much to Jewel's chagrin.

Big Boss, the leader of a group of illegal loggers, discovers Linda and Tulio's expedition to find the macaws and orders his henchmen to hunt them down. At the same time, Nigel plots to exact revenge on Blu along with his new comrades, an anteater named Charlie and a poison dart frog named Gabi. After they arrive at the jungle, Blu, his family, and their friends initially find nothing. However, they are eventually taken to a flock of blue macaws that are hiding in an uncharted section of the Amazon. There, Jewel is reunited with her long-lost father, Eduardo, paternal aunt Mimi, and childhood friend, Roberto. Eduardo seems unimpressed with Blu, but thanks him for bringing Jewel back home. Having lost their previous habitat to arson from the illegal loggers Eduardo is anti-human, and brushes off Blu's suggestion to expose the sanctuary to Linda and Tulio to ensure their protection.

While searching for the macaws, Linda and Tulio are eventually captured by the loggers. Meanwhile, Blu does his best to fit in with the flock, as his family are doing, but his continued reliance on human tools prevent him from connecting with anyone. Meanwhile, in another attempt to get closer to Blu, a disguised Nigel wins a talent show to become a performer for a Carnival show that Rafael, Pedro, Nico and Carla are hosting. When Blu tries to pick a Brazilian nut for Jewel, he accidentally tries to get it in the territory of the Spix macaw's enemies, the scarlet macaws, led by the hostile Felipe. Blu inadvertently causes war between the two tribes for food when he accidentally swats Felipe with a branch. The war turns out to be a football (soccer) match, but Blu accidentally costs the flock their territory when he scores on his team's own goal.

After an argument with Jewel, Blu ultimately decides that he will leave Linda and his human roots behind him for the sake of his family, but when he witnesses the loggers’ destruction of the forest, he returns to the flock and rallies them, finally gaining Eduardo's trust. With Blu's knowledge of human technology and help from the scarlet macaws, the flock disable the loggers' machinery. During the fight, Eduardo flies into a tractor and gets knocked onto the ground. As the tractor attempts to kill him, Linda tackles the machine in another tractor and wins. As Eduardo is on the ground between the tractors, Tulio picks him up and lets him fly away. Big Boss tries blowing up the trees with dynamite instead, but Blu thwarts him. Big Boss tries to stop Blu, but Nigel intervenes, wanting Blu to himself, leaving Big Boss to encounter an anaconda. Nigel then attacks Blu in a final attempt to get revenge, but Gabi, while trying to help, accidentally knocks Nigel out with a porcupine's quill filled with her poison. However, Bia reveals that Gabi isn't a poison dart frog at all, but a species of tree frog, and an overjoyed Gabi lovingly smothers a dismayed Nigel and drags him away, while Charlie leaves. The anaconda is shown with a bloated belly, wearing Big Boss’s hat and spitting out his signature lollipop.

With the flock now under Linda and Tulio's protection, Blu and Jewel decide to live in the Amazon with their kids, though still agreeing to visit Rio in the summer. Eduardo drops his anti-human stance by wearing a fanny pack of his own, and accepts Blu into the flock. Nigel and Gabi are sent to Rio for study, Nico and Pedro's Carnival show called ''Amazon Untamed'' goes on, and Luiz arrives at the Amazon for a visit.

Voice cast

* Jesse Eisenberg as Blu, a male Spix's macaw from Moose Lake who was born in Rio de Janeiro and Jewel's mate.
* Anne Hathaway as Jewel, a female Spix's macaw from Rio de Janeiro and Blu's mate.
* Jemaine Clement as Nigel, a sadistic sulphur-crested cockatoo and Gabi's love interest who seeks revenge on Blu for crippling his ability to fly.
* Kristin Chenoweth as Gabi, a poison dart frog who is Nigel's sidekick. In the end of the film, she is revealed to be a tree frog.
* will.i.am as Pedro, a rapping red-crested cardinal.
* George Lopez as Rafael, a romantic, wise and energetic toco toucan who is fond of the Rio Carnival and Eva's mate.
* Bruno Mars as Roberto, Jewel's suave childhood friend.
* Leslie Mann as Linda, an American woman who adopted Blu for 15 years and Tulio's wife.
* Rodrigo Santoro as Tulio, a Brazilian ornithologist and Linda's husband.
* Rita Moreno as Aunt Mimi, Eduardo's sister and Jewel's aunt.
* Tracy Morgan as Luiz, a bulldog

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